Evolution
by sjaraven
Summary: (Last Chapter finally up) Mutant X try to help a New Mutant who the GSA are very interested in getting their hands on, which leads to one of the team being captured by the GSA.(Shalimar/Brennan fic)
1. Chapter 1

**_Evolution _**

  
Author's Note: This is my first Mutant X fanfic so I would appreciate anything you had to say, but please don't be too hard, I'm very nervous.  

  
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Mutant X. The only characters I do own are Mitchell and Sage. 

Rating: PG, because there's some fighting.   
  
Summary: Mutant X tries to help a New Mutant who the GSA are very interested in getting their hands on, which leads too one of the team being captured by the GSA.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Chapter One:_**

****

**_Night time………… _**

  It was late on a Friday night and the streets of the city were almost deserted. The few who were out were mostly groups of homeless people who huddled together in the boarded up entrances of long disused buildings. The night was quiet except for the wind and the occasional sound of the trains that passed close by. 

  All of a sudden, out of the door to one of the abandoned building, came a young man with blond hair wearing a black leather jacket, his pounding feet shattering the silence of the street. He raced to the corner of the building he had burst out of, and down the dark side alley that led down to the water front. From the building burst three heavily built men wearing suites, handguns drawn and followed the first man down the alley. 

  The men shot their guns blindly into the darkened alley, stopping when they heard the grunt of pain and the stumbling of footsteps ahead of them. They slowed down, walking slowly guns ready as they neared the area where they had heard the man stumble. As their eyes grew more accustomed to the darkness they saw a small pool of blood against the far side of a dumpster to their left. As one they moved around the dumpster and surrounded the purpose of their chase. The young man lay still on his back, eyes closed; blood coming out of a wound in his shoulder showed where the bullet had entered his body but not left. As one of the men signaled for the others to check his pulse and guard the body, he took out a cell phone and punched in some numbers.

  'Mitchell here. I need a med crew over by the water front.' The man said into the phone and looking at one of the other men that were bent over the body who nodded, he continued. 'The subject has a gun shot wound to his right shoulder. No exit wound. His stats are good and he's not bleeding too badly. He is currently unconscious.'

  Mitchell hung up the phone and turning back too his men told them too stay put and that their back-up would be there soon.

  As they turned back too the body a women dressed in black with long blond hair dropped down from the roof of the building to land on her feet silently behind them. She smiled and then taking a step forward tapped Mitchell on the shoulder. The three men whirled around, guns out to focus on the new arrival. 

  'Hey boys, didn't your mother ever teach you not too play with guns?' she asked sweetly, as she continued to smile her eyes flashed yellow in the darkness.

  'Get her' Mitchell ordered too the other two men behind him who stepped forward obediently. 'Be careful not to kill her.'

  As one of the men made a grab for her left arm she stepped quickly to the side and brought her leg up slamming it hard into the man chest sending him flying head over heels into the alley wall. The second man took out a taser from his inside pocket and turned it on. He swung from side to side with it at the women, trying too drive her back too the wall, but she ducked quickly under his out stretched arm and grabbing his arm she twisted it behind the mans back shocking him with the taser.

  'Quite a mess you made, I'd be impressed if I didn't already know you were a mutant' Mitchell sneered at her. As she took a step towards him he held his gun up and pointed it at her face. 'One more step and I'll shoot you.'

  The women looked at the gun in Mitchell's hand and then her eyes moved past him too look at something over his shoulder.

  'You took your time getting down here Brennan' she called smiling.

   'I thought you could handle things on your own Shalimar' Brennen called back innocently. 

   Startled Mitchell started to turn around to bring his gun to face this new attacker but as he did so Shalimar kicked his hand that held the gun and sent it flying into the air. As Mitchell looked from the women to the new attacker he began too feel scared.

  Brennan was standing a few meters behind dressed in a leather coat and a dark red jumper. His dark brown hair and brown eyes hard too notice in the dark alley. He held his hands, one over the other, and as Mitchell looked he saw flashes of electrical energy forming into a ball between his hands.

  From behind him Shalimar called out. 'It' lights out time creep.'

  At those words Brennan sent the ball of electrical energy into Mitchell's chest, throwing him backwards too land on the ground unconscious.

  Brennan walked slowly towards Mitchell's body, making sure that he was staying down, he then looked at the still bodies of the other two attackers who lay near by.

  'They're out cold.' Brennan said approvingly too Shalimar.

  'You know I could have taken him if you hadn't shown up right.' she replied.

  'Off course.' Brennan said cheerfully. 'Now where is this new mutant that they were chasing?'

  'Back behind the dumpster' Shalimar nodded to the dumpster and then walked towards it, stopping when she reached the end. 'Hey where'd he go?'

  Shalimar looked quickly around the dumpster, noting the blood on the ground. 'He was definitely here, but he must have got away when I was taking care of the GSA agents.'

  She took out a plastic vile and a swab. She soaked it in the already drying blood on the floor by her feet and then returned the swab too the vile doing it up securely and then placed it in her pocket.

  While she did this Brennan brought his right hand close too his face, and spoke into his com-link ring which linked him too Adam and the Mutant X headquarters.

  'Adam. It's Brennan. We located the GSA agents just after they had caught the new mutant.' Brennan continued regretfully. 'We took care of the GSA but the guys disappeared. He's been shot, but as he was able to walk away he couldn't have been too badly hurt. Do you want us too search the buildings for him?' Brennan asked.

  'No.' Adam replied immediately. 'I'm tracking a GSA truck that is on its way to your location. They'll be there in a few minutes you'd better leave.'

  'Got it, Adam.' Brennan replied. 'We're on our way home.'

  With that he looked too Shalimar who had walked to stand next too him.

  She smiled. 'Let's go shall we.'

  At that they walked down the alley and were swallowed up by the darkness; they're footsteps the only sound in the quiet night air as they slowly retreated until they too were swallowed by the night.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Genomex_****_, Next Day………_**

At Genomex the next morning Mitchell stood in front of a desk where on the other side a man with white hair stood looking through a window at the lab below and the stasis pods. Eckhart the leader of the GSA, the genetics company that had mistakenly created the hundreds of mutants and was now hell bent on tracking down and wiping out their mistake.

  'Good morning agent Mitchell. I'm glad too see that you have recovered from last nights escapade.' Eckhart said without any trace of emotion. He turned around to stare coldly at Mitchell until the man looked down at the floor.

  'I don't like failure Mr. Mitchell. You'll be wise too remember that for your next assignment' Eckhart continued. The man looked up with surprise. 'Yes, well this Mutant X contingency was not foreseen. Otherwise I would have sent along more men. You are excused from repercussions based solely on that ground and let me warn you that one more mishap and there will be very serious and painful consequences for you.'

  Mitchell breathed a sigh of relief although the look of fear did not leave his face. He started to apologies, but was cut short by Eckharts raised hand.

  'I don't believe in apologies. Just like I don't believe in forgiveness they're just empty words. But remember Mr. Mitchell this is your last chance. You bring me that mutant otherwise…' He let the words hang in the air a cruel smile on his face. With a nod and a wave of his hand, signaling the end of this meeting, he turned around and continued once more to view the lab below and the pods.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Sanctuary…………_**

  At the Mutant X headquarters a few days later the team sat round a table in the briefing room. Brennan and Shalimar were sitting too one side of the table while opposite them sat Jesse and Emma the other members of the Mutant X team. With Shalimar a feral who possessed cat-like characteristics, Brennan an elemental who could send of electrical energy, Jesse a Molecular who can could change the density of his body to become intangible and could also become as solid as a wall, and Emma a Telempathic who could read and adjust peoples emotions they were a very formidable team.

  They sat around talking casually until the door to the room opened and Adam walked in.

  The founder and leader of Mutant X, who was not a new Mutant but who had helped create them by accident and then had vowed too protect them and take down the GSA, sat at the head of the table.

  'Good morning guys.' Adam said distractedly. 'Too business. As you know a few days ago Brennan and Shalimar were sent too retrieve a new mutant who the GSA seems interested in capturing. Now although they prevented the new mutant from getting captured he disappeared.' Adam looked around at the team and then continued. 'This is top priority. From our hacks of the GSA system we know that Eckhart is very interested in getting this new mutant. Now although there was no mention of the mutant name or his mutant power Shalimar was able to get me a blood sample which I checked and then ran it through the new Mutant database. However..' And now Adam looked at the team a troubled look on his face. 'I was unable too find a match.' The Mutant X team looked around at each other with looks a mix of un-ease and shock registering on their faces. 'It took a while but after hacking into several different government branches I was able too find a match.'

  Adam then stood up and walking to the computer screen that covered the wall at the other end of the table he pressed a few buttons until the picture of a young handsome man with short blond hair and green eyes appeared on the screen.

  'His name is Sage Cappern. He's 16 years old and up until a few years ago he was a model student living in Arizona and then all of a sudden he disappeared completely after the death of his mother at the age of 13. He showed up in town about a month ago and from what I can tell from his recent credit activity he has started working at a bar called 'The Jackal' under the name Steven Duffel. Obviously he must be using a fake ID. Now we're lucky because the only thing Eckhart seems to know about our friend is that he's a mutant and his current alias.'

  As Adam stopped to allow the team too absorb that information he pressed another button on the computer and the picture disappeared too be replaced by a list of the subject's recent electronic activity.

  'After doing some digging around I found the address of an apartment complex where he has been staying under another a fake name. I want Shalimar and Brennan' he looked from one too the other 'too go there and see if you can get him too come here before the GSA is able to find out where he has been staying. Hopefully he will recognize you two from the other night and will agree to come with you.' He then looked at the other members of the team. 'Jesse and Emma I want you to keep an eye on the GSA activity and give us a heads up if they get any new information. Any questions?' He looked at those around the table questionably.

  'Do we know what this guy's new Mutant power is?' Shalimar asked eyes dancing.

  'Not exactly. As we have no information on this kid in the New Mutant Database I had to examine the sample that you had brought me.' He paused for a minute looking troubled. 'However I was unable to determine that from the blood sample provided.'

  'Why not?' Emma asked worriedly. She had helped out in the lab often enough to know that their equipment was state of the art and that by using the blood sample Adam should have been able to determine the Kids new mutancy. 

  'The sample was corrupted in some way. That's why it took so long to identify the kids DNA and blood type and match it up to the government files.' Adam replied and then looking to see if there were any more questions he signaled that the meeting was over and left the room.

  The room was silent for a moment as the team absorbed the information they had been given. Emma was the first too voice her opinion of what they had learned.

  'I don't like this.' She said as she looked at the others. 'It doesn't make sense. Adam should have been able to find out the kids mutant power just by examining the DNA. There's no reason for why he would only be able to work out the kids blood type. And what about the kid not being on the New Mutant Database?' she asked looking at Jesse who used the computer more then the rest of them.

  'You're over reacting Em. There is a very logical explanation for why the kid is not on the New Mutant Database.' Jesse said confidently trying to reassure Emma in what he felt was nothing to worry about. 'Adam says he's 16 right?' Emma nodded. 'Well the GSA experiments were about 20 years ago. The kid is obviously the child of one of the New Mutants from the original experiments. And as for the blood thing you know from all your time in the lab that blood samples can become easily contaminated. Seriously Emma you worry too much. It's not healthy.'

  Jesse looked at Emma until she smiled and then left the room followed closely by Shalimar and Brennan who were both glad to get out the room and get started on their assignment. Emma sat there for a few minutes thinking things over. She knew that Jesse had made good points but she still couldn't help feeling like something was wrong. 

  After a few more moments she stood up and left the room trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Downtown…………_**

  Brennan and Shalimar sat in the GV looking up at a tall apartment building. It was about midday and the sun was shining down on the newly painted grounds of the building. From the information that Adam had given them they knew that the building had five levels each of which was a separate apartment.

  Inside the car Brennan looked at his watch.

  'It's just gone one o'clock, we'd better move in and see if anyone is in.' Brennan said as he opened the car door and stepped out, Shalimar followed suit.

  They made their way across the courtyard of the building and towards the door, entering to find themselves in a small lobby.

  'According to Adam's data the kid lives on the top level.' Brennan said looking at the name plates on the mail boxes. 'And what do you know. He was right. Steven Duffel, apartment 5.'

  Shalimar and Brennan walked towards the lift that was situated to the left of them and entered. Brennan pressed the button for the top floor and they felt a slight jolt as the elevator slid into motion. The numbers on the control panel lit up as they passed the floors, until they reached the top floor. They exited the lift and found them selves standing in a small room where a door lay in front of them. They approached it and after looking at Brennan, Shalimar knocked on the door.    

  They waited a few more minutes and knocked again. 

  'Maybe the guy isn't in.' Brennan said finally, when there was no answer.

  'Or maybe the GSA got here before we did.' Shalimar replied sighing. 'You know,' Shalimar continued thoughtfully, 'I could probably take down the door…….. What do you think?' She asked finally looking at Brennan, smiling.

  'Although I have complete faith in your abilities Shalimar I think it's probably better if we do this the silent way, in case somebody's in. We don't want to scare this guy away by bursting in there.' Brennan said, smiling when Shalimar started to pout.

  'Fine. We'll do it your way' Shalimar said even as Brennan crouched down to examine the lock, taking from his pocket two thin pieces of metal, and began fiddling with the lock. 'Although my way would have been quicker.' 

  Brennan stood up a look of triumph on his face. 'After you.' He said bowing slightly as he opened the door open for Shalimar to enter. Shalimar rolled her eyes. 'Oh brother' she muttered to herself as she entered the apartment closely followed by Brennan.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Sanctuary, Same Time…………_**

  Jesse sat at the computer screen quickly scanning the files to see if there was any mention by the GSA of why they were so interested in Sage. He had easily hacked into the Genomex computer system over an hour ago and he'd been unable to find any information that was of use to them. Jesse sighed and leaned his head back so he was looking at the ceiling.

  'No luck, huh.' Emma said from the computer behind him where she was keeping an eye on the GSA phone and car activity.

  'This is a waste of time. I've tried dozens of different searches in the Genomex computer network and I've got nothing.' Jesse complained, turning in his chair to face Emma who took her eyes of her computer screen long enough too give Jesse a small knowing smile.

  'Well at least you have the handle of the computer. I'm afraid too touch it in case I accidentally destroy the work' Emma said as she turned and faced Jesse the smile still on her face. She looked behind him at his computer screen. 'What are you searching now?' she asked.

  'Well after I could find nothing on any of this kids aliases I did a routine search to give me information on any recent mutant activity. As you can see it's a long list.' He was about to go on when Emma stood up and walked over to him staring at the computer screen behind him.

  'Jesse I thought you said that you did a search for the kid and you came up with nothing?' She asked not taking her eyes of the computer screen.

  'Yeah I did' Jesse replied as he swirled in the chair scanning the screen to see if he could locate what had interested Emma.

  'Then why is the name Cappern listed under something called the G.D Project.' Emma asked, pointing to the place near the bottom of the computer screen where the words were located.

  'Well I didn't check his real name. There wasn't much point after Adam said that the GSA only knew his alias' Jesse said as he clicked at the words on the screen and waited impatiently for the new page to appear.

  When the information appeared on the screen both Jesse and Emma read it in silence.             

   '_G.D Project: Established 1960. Present condition: dormant. Led by Doctor Benor the G.D Project was created to test the effects of a drug called D.T.31 which had been discovered some years ago in the Amazon. Original tests showed an increase in the subject's brain activity and the materialization of Psionic abilities in some of the subjects. Many of the original subjects died from exposure to the drug while others went crazy due to their new found uncontrollable abilities. A small group of them survived unharmed some retaining their abilities while others lost them. The survivors were let go but kept under close watch for the next ten years. During this time when the subjects were under surveillance the Project had started to research with Genetics in the hope of being able to create a super human. After seeing the mutations that they caused it was decided to bring the D.T.31 survivors in to see what effect their genetic manipulation would have on them. Although their original experiments gave them some success, it was not until one of the subjects became pregnant that they really began to get results. Early scans of the fetus indicated that the child had inherited the subjects powers. Although the child did not survive to full term enough information was gathered by Doctor Benor to continue the research. However due to the accidental death of a few of the staff the Project was shut down and the subjects let go. All files on the experiment results and the subjects, including the D.T.31 drug, were destroyed so no record of them exists today. At this time all subjects remain at large and are high priority for capture. They are too be considered extremely dangerous as in some cases they have retained more than one mutant ability and have shown the ability to pass their powers on when they reproduce.'_

  Underneath the file description another paragraph had been added.

_   'One of the subjects, Dana Cappern, was later recovered when her powers mutated causing her to loose control of her new found Feral ability in a crowded night club. She was taken in for examinations but died due to the break down of her DNA, cause remains unknown. An attempt was made to capture her offspring who were thought to have inherited their mother's mutant ability but they escaped. It is still not known whether they retained any mutant ability and there have been no known sittings. They are a high priority for examination.'_

  Emma looked at Jesse, her eyes wide in shock at what they had just read.

  'Wow.' Jesse said, glancing back at the screen. 'We'd better tell Adam about this.' He got up to leave, but Emma stopped him by grabbing on to his arm, her eyes wide in fright.

  'Jesse. When Adam examined the kids blood sample he said it was corrupted in some way which was why he couldn't determine the kids mutant powers.' She said the fear etched into her voice. 'What if the kids powers are mutating, he won't be able to control his powers. He could hurt someone. He could hurt Brennan or Shalimar. We've got to warn them. They aren't expecting any kind of fight.' 

  Jesse tried to calm her down although he had already caught her fear for their friends. 'Emma calm down. Brennan and Shalimar can more than handle themselves against one mutating mutant they'll be fine. Look we'll go tell Adam, he'll know what to do. But first we'd better..' Jesse was interrupted by a beeping sound and the flashing red screen of Emma recently vacated computer. 

  'On, no. they've found out where the kid is.' Emma said staring at the screen. 'They've sent a GSA van. It'll be there in about five minutes. We'd better go tell Adam and warn Shalimar and Brennan about the unwelcome company.'

  At that Emma ran across the floor and down the stairs towards the lab where Adam was working, closely followed by Jesse.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Downtown, Sage's Apartment…………_**

  Shalimar starred around at the apartment. They had entered a large room that was obviously used as the lounge and dining area, as it contained a large leather couch with matching chairs as well as a wide screen TV and dining table. The room was a mess, showing signs of a struggle. The furniture had been knocked around and the TV smashed.

  'It looks like a fight took place here.' Shalimar remarked as she scanned the room looking for any sign that would tell them what had happened there. 'Do you think that the GSA got here before we did?'

  Before Brennan could answer they heard the sound of something falling to the floor in one of the other rooms. They looked around trying to pinpoint which room the sound had come from. Shalimar nodded to one of the doors on the left and started to make her way towards it, as Brennan followed closely behind ready to use his powers if the need arose. Shalimar gently grabbed the door handle and turned it opening the door slowly.

  The room was dark but Shalimar could still make out the form of something crouching on the floor. She ran her hand up and down the side of the door searching for a light switch. Her hands caught on the switch just as she was about to give up and she pressed it impatiently. Her eyes, having gotten used too the dark now took a moment to adjust too the sudden light that flooded into the room.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Sanctuary………_**

  'I can't raise Shalimar or Brennan on their Com-link rings. Something's jamming the signal.' Adam said worriedly, absently scratching the side of his face. He looked at Jesse and Emma who were waiting anxiously for their orders. 'You two had better take the Double Helix over there. Land on the roof, the kid lives on the top floor so you should have good access to his apartment from there. I'll continue trying to raise them from here.'

  Adam turned back too the computer he had been using and started typing fast, Oblivious when Emma and Jesse left the lab and headed too the jet.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Downtown, Sage's Apartment………_**

    When her eyes had adjusted to the light in the room Shalimar could identify the crouched figure of a young man in the far corner of the room, his back too her. Shalimar slowly made her way over too the body until she was only a step away.

  'Sage.' She called softly too the still figure. 'Sage. You probably don't remember me, but I'm Shalimar and that's Brennan. We helped you the other night when those guys were chasing you, but you disappeared before we could get a chance too talk.' Shalimar started too reach out her hand towards the figure which still hadn't responded. 'We want too help you Sage. We can take you somewhere safe where those men won't be able too get you. You've just got to trust us.' She placed her hand on the figures shoulder. 

   He tensed up, and all of a sudden he turned around so they could see him. His eyes were glowing a dark red and his face was covered in sweat. He growled at them, parting his lips as he bared his fangs. A slight movement drew Shalimar's attention to his hands where on the end of his fingers she could see long claws that dug into the tiled floor.

   Suddenly before Shalimar could move Sage jumped up and slammed his left arm into Shalimar's stomach sending her flying past Brennan into the wall, to land hard on the floor struggling to stand, the wind knocked out of her. Brennan had no time to think as Sage pounced on him, knocking him onto his back. Sage landed on top of him, and growling brought his head down angling his fangs for Brennan's neck going for the kill. Shalimar jumped up and grabbed Sage's head pulling his head back and away from Brennan's neck. Growling in frustration, Sage grabbed onto Shalimar's hands that held his head and dug his claws into her wrists until her grip slackened a bit and then he threw her over his head sending her through the door to smash into the leather couch. Sage was on her in a second, her blood dripping from his claws, and hit her with the back of his hand. Shalimar, absorbing the hit, swung her head to face Sage her eyes glowing yellow and her lip bleeding. She struggled to dislodge Sage from his position on her but unable to move her arms from his firm grip she slammed her knee up into his groin and while he was distracted by the pain she managed to remove her hands from his grip. She brought the palm of her left hand into his face and pushing him onto his back she struggled to pin his arms too his side. He swung his body into Shalimar and they rolled on the floor for a few moments each trying to get the upper hand. 

   As Shalimar was once more slammed onto the ground she caught the sight of Brennan behind Sage and grabbing the last of her strength brought herself up and kicking Sage in the chest sent him backwards. When he was clear of Shalimar Brennan sent a Shot of electrical energy into Sages chest, throwing him backwards to collide with a wall slumping unconscious to the floor.

  Brennan stumbled over too Shalimar, his chest still hurting from Sages attack, and helped her too her feet.

  'You okay?' Brennan asked Shalimar worriedly as he noted her bleeding lip and the deep claw marks on her wrists. 'You're bleeding.'

  'I'll be okay.' She replied as she held her left arm too her chest, having hurt it during the struggle. 'He was really strong. I'd say we're pretty lucky we're still alive. He looked ill we'd better get him too Adam before he wakes up.' She said as they reached Sage's still body.

  As Brennan tried too contact Adam, Shalimar put her hand gently too Sage's throat feeling for the faint heartbeat that was there.

  'Shalimar, I can't get in touch with Adam or the others.' Brennan said worriedly. 'Something must be blocking the signal. You got your phone on you?' he asked.

   'Left it in the car' she answered. 'Where's yours?' she asked.

   'It got busted up in the fight.' He answered, holding up what was left of his phone for Shalimar too see. 'I'd better go get your phone and call Adam, see if he can send the Double Helix for us.' Brennan said as he waved too Shalimar and then made his way too the door. 'Be back soon.' He called as he left the apartment.

  Shalimar stared down at Sage's limp form and then for no reason she sat down, and lifting up Sage's head, she cradled it in her lap. She felt her emotions flare as she stared down at his face. He was a feral like her and even though she didn't know him she felt a need to protect him. 

  Hearing a noise behind her Shalimar gently put Sage's head on the floor and stood up. 

  'You're back fast Brennan.' She called behind her. 'What did Adam say?' She turned around expectedly too find the room full of GSA agents. She cursed for not paying close attention and allowing them to sneak up on her. She did a quick head count, there were 12 of them. One of the guys looked familiar and it took Shalimar a moment too recognize him as the guy Brennan had shocked the other night.

   'We meet again.' Mitchell said smiling and he looked first from Shalimar and then too Sage's limp form. 'You can come with us of your own free will or else we'll have too be forceful. Either way we're taking that kid with us.'

  'You aren't taking him anywhere.' Shalimar snarled at him her eyes glowing yellow as she readied herself for the fight ahead.

  'I think you'll find that we have you outnumbered 12 to 1. Oh and if you're waiting for you're electrical friend to return I'm afraid you'll be disappointed.'

  'What did you do to him.' Shalimar asked with a mixture of fear and anger in her voice.

  'Don't worry he's alive for the moment. We just gave him a little shock too send him to sleep. Now what will it be. Are you going to surrender or do we have too get violent?' He asked smiling.

  'Like I already said you're not taking him anywhere.' Shalimar replied glaring at Mitchell as he motioned for the agents too walk forward.      

  A dozen agents came at Shalimar slowly, cautiously; too form a loose half circle around her. As one agent stepped forward Shalimar kicked him in the stomach sending him to the floor. She punched another agent in the face as she blocked the attack of another with her other arm. As an arm was swung at her face she dropped down to a crouched position and spreading her right led out she swung around sending three agents too the ground. As she rose back up she felt a sharp pain in her back as one of the agents got a punch in. Swinging around she kicked him on the chin and then shoved her elbow back into the chest of another assailant who had been sneaking up on her. An agent shoved into her and as she fought to stay on her feet another agent used a taser on her, shocking her and sending her too the ground where she struggled too get up. Looking up Shalimar saw an

 agent Standing above her holding a taser in his hand, he bent down too give her another shock which would send her into unconsciousness. 

  Suddenly there was the sound of breaking glass, and as the agent was momentarily distracted by the noise, Shalimar grabbed onto his right leg and pulled him down so he landed hard on his back. As he tried to get up she hit him in the face with the back of her hand, knocking him out.

  As Shalimar was about to get up from where she sat on the floor, a hand rested on her shoulder as another grabbed one of her arms roughly. Quickly she leaned backwards and brought her legs up to connect with the two agent's heads, making them break their grip.

  She jumped to her feet and as she surveyed the room she was surprised to see Jesse in the middle of fighting two agents, as Emma seemed to be using her telempathic powers to make two agents think that they couldn't see and them knocking them out. A broken window showed where they had entered the room.

  Shalimar looked around for Sage and was relieved to see that he was still lying on the floor where she had left him. Looking about the room she saw that there was very few agents left standing, and that most of the ones that were, were making a hasty escape.

_  At least they know when they're beaten, Shalimar thought to herself as she scanned the agents looking for Mitchell. She smiled when she saw him making a hasty escape through the front door. ___

  "Oh no, you don't." Shalimar said softly too herself. She turned around to face Emma and Jesse. "You two take care of these guys and then get Sage to the jet. I'm gonna go get Brennan." 

  Without waiting to hear their reply she ran towards the door, punching an agent in the face, knocking him back down to the ground as she went by. She ran to the stairs that lay behind a door to the left of the lift and raced down them listening with her feral hearing trying to catch the sound of Mitchell feet but she couldn't hear anyone else on the stairs.

  She crashed into the lobby and raced out the door scanning the area for Mitchell. She saw no sign of Mitchell or Brennan. Using her feral eyesight she was able too notice the tire tracks at the edge of the curb that indicated that a car had made a hasty escape. As she ran to the curb she looked up and down the street but saw no sign of the car. As she looked around frantically she caught sight of something shiny lying on the side of the road. Shalimar bent down to pick it up, recognizing it as Brennan's com-link ring.

  "Brennan." Shalimar whispered softly as a tear ran down her cheek. "Where are you?" 


	6. Chapter 6

**_Double Helix, Friday………_**

  Jesse sat at the helm off the Double Helix carefully monitoring the machines. Emma sat next to him, trying not to cry, while Shalimar stood over the body of Sage checking his vitals. 

  They had just left Sage's apartment and were on their way back to Sanctuary. They had prevented the GSA from capturing Sage but in the struggle they had lost Brennan.

  "Have you got through to Adam yet?" Emma asked Jesse, not taking her eyes off the screen in front off her.

  "Not yet I still can't get a signal, something is still interfering with our ….. Wait a sec." Jesse pressed a few buttons into the computer and then spoke. "Adam, are you there?"

  "Jesse. I've been trying to get in touch with you for the last 20 minutes. What's going on?" Adam's worried voice came over the com-link.

  "Something's been interfering with our communication signal. We're on our way back too sanctuary with Shalimar and Sage." Jesse stopped and glanced at Emma unsure of how too continue. "But…Adam. They got Brennan."

  "Alright get back here immediately, you guys. We'll talk when you get back." Adam said obviously trying to hide the emotion he felt.

  "Okay Adam." Jesse answered before severing the link. He looked behind him at Shalimar who hadn't said anything since they had left the apartment and then focused his attention on piloting the Double Helix.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Sanctuary, A Few Hours Later…………_**

_  Adam left the lab, where he had been stabilizing Sage, and headed too the briefing room where the rest of the team were. _

  Jesse was sitting down at the table trying to comfort Emma whose eyes were red and puffy. Shalimar was pacing the floor. She paid no attention as Adam entered the room, while Emma and Jesse stopped talking.

  "How's Sage?" Jesse asked, after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

    "I've been able too stabilize him for the moment. He seems too be in a state of evolution. I think that that is what is causing his DNA too break down." Adam said obviously troubled.

  "But, he'll be fine right?" Shalimar asked. It was the first time she'd spoken since they left Sage's apartment.

  "I'm not sure. He's resting now, but unless I can find some way too stop his powers from evolving then he will die." Adam said looking from one members face too the next resting last on Shalimar.

  "What about Brennan. When are we going to go get him out?" Shalimar asked.

  Adam turned too look at Emma. "Have you been able to pick up anything?" 

  "No." Emma shook her head. "He must still be unconscious."

  "Okay. Keep at it." Adam said. "I want you, Jesse to…"

  Adam was interrupted as Shalimar punched her hand down on the table, breaking it, so that Emma and Jesse had to jump back.

  "Why are we wasting all this time talking?" Shalimar growled, glaring at Adam. "We should be over at Genomex kicking butt right now and getting Brennan out of there." 

  "For one thing Shalimar, we don't know where they're holding Brennan. That's why we have to do some research before we get him out. Now I understand that you want too get Brennan back, we all do, but going too Genomex ill-prepared would be foolish." Adam said compassionately, he knew how close Brennan and Shalimar were. "Now Jesse I want you to hack into the Genomex computer, see if you can find out where they're holding him. Shalimar, could you help him?"

  "Whatever." Shalimar hissed, obviously not happy with the plan but understanding the necessity of it. "I'm going to go check on Sage. I'll see Jesse in the computer room in 10 minutes."

  Adam, Emma and Jesse watched as Shalimar left the room.

  "She's upset." Emma said. "She just needs some time to herself."

  "I know." Adam said, worriedly. "We'd better get to work."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Genomex, Same Time………_**

  Mitchell stood in front of Eckhart's desk giving him his report on the morning's mission.

  "Although we failed to capture the subject in question the outing was not a complete loss." Mitchell said trying to sound confident. 

  "Really Mr. Mitchell." Eckhart said coldly. "I asked you too bring back this new mutant and you failed me for the second time."

  "Yes sir, but as I was saying we did manage to capture a member of Mutant X." Mitchell continued, nervously.

  "Really." Eckhart asked an evil smile on his lips. "Which one?"

  "Brennan Mulwray. We're holding him in Building 24 for the time being. He is currently unconscious but should wake up pretty soon." Mitchell answered.

  "What do you wish to accomplish by not putting him into stasis." Eckhart asked although he already knew the answer.

  "Simple sir." Mitchell said, smiling slightly. "He's going to tell us everything he knows about the Mutant Underground."

  "You think he'll do this willingly?" Eckhart asked.

  "The people at Building 24 can be very persuasive sir." Mitchell answered.

  Eckhart nodded and after signaling for Mitchell to leave his office he turned back to look at the stasis chambers below, smiling too himself.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_GSA_********_Building_****_ 24, A Few Hours Later………_**

****

  Brennan awoke slowly. His head was pounding and his chest hurt. Opening his eyes he found himself in an unfamiliar plain, windowless room. The only furniture was the bed he was lying on. He looked around confused for a moment unsure of what was going on, and then he remembered. _The GSA, he thought. They had caught him by surprise as he had gone to get the phone to call Adam. He'd been knocked unconscious almost immediately, not having a chance to put up a struggle. _

  Feeling the back of his neck, Brennan felt a sub-dermal governor and groaned too himself. _Great, he thought, __so it wasn't just a bad dream._

  He hoped that Shalimar had made it out okay and that she'd been able to save Sage from the GSA.

  He heard the sound of the lock on the door turning and looked up as the door opened and a man flanked by three GS Agents entered the room.

"Ah, MR. Mulwray." The man said, smiling. "I'm glad to see that you're awake."

  "Who are you?" Brennan asked as he glared at the agents. "And where the hell am I."

  "My name Mr. Lyle." The man replied. "I'm head of interrogation at this facility which is called Building 24. I've been assigned to find out everything you know about the New Mutant underground."

  "Yeah, well you'll be wasting your time because I won't tell you a god damn thing." Brennan said, angrily.

  "That's what they all say in the beginning, but by the end they're all the same." Mr. Lyle said an insane smile on his face. "I'm going to enjoy breaking you Mr. Mulwray." He nodded to the guards. "Take him."

  The three agents came at Brennan from different sides. As the first reached out a hand to grab him, Brennan grabbed his hand, twisting it at an odd angle and then kicked him in the stomach. He turned to face the other two agents but was caught of guard as one of the agents hit him in the back of the head and the other one shocked him with a taser.

  Brennan collapsed to the floor still conscious, but unable to give much resistance as he was pulled up and held by two of the agents. They held him there for a moment as Mr. Lyle walked up too stand in front of Brennan.

  "It's no use fighting Mr. Mulwray." Mr. Lyle said, still smiling. "All you're going too do is make things worse for yourself."

  He stepped back and the two GS Agents proceeded too drag Brennan out of the room followed by Mr. Lyle and the third agent.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Notes: Sorry for any grammar mistakes that took place in the past chapters. (I always mix up 'to' and 'too'.). I went through this chapter before putting it up so there shouldn't be any mistakes, but just in case there are I'm sorry I've just been very busy revising for my exams. Anyway I just wanted to thank everyone that's reviewed my story, I really appreciate it. Please keep those reviews coming. Thank you!!!!**

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Sanctuary, Same Time…………_**

  Jesse sat in front of the computer and typed away furiously. For the last few hours he had tried every search he could think of on the computer but had come up empty each time. He groaned, stretching his arms which were aching from doing so much typing. He looked over at the computer behind him not surprised to see that it was vacant.

  _Shalimar must have gone to check on Sage again, Jesse thought worriedly. _

  Since they had gotten back Shalimar had been unable to sit still. She'd spent the last few hours alternating between searching the GSA database and checking on Sage, whose condition had not changed.

  Since Brennan had been caught Shalimar had been in a mood. She was short and defensive with all of them. When Emma had tried to talk to her, Shalimar had growled and told her to back off. 

  Jesse knew that Shalimar was just worried about Brennan. Those two had been getting closer over the last few weeks, and although Jesse didn't think anything had happened yet he could tell that something was building up.

  Jesse looked over to the platform below where Emma was sitting with her eyes closed and her hands lax. She had been trying for a while to link with Brennan but had so far been unsuccessful.

  Jesse signed and turned his attention back too the computer screen. As he had just started to type, he heard Emma scream out in pain, and looked up just in time to see Emma collapse on the platform.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

****

**_Building 24, Same Time………_**

****

**_  Brennan sat strapped to a metal chair. His lip was bleeding and he thought that one of his ribs might be broken. In front of him Mr. Lyle stood slowly filling a syringe with a green liquid, humming to himself. The 3 agents, who now stood in one corner of the room, had spent the last 10 minutes using him as a human punching bag._**

  "Now Mr. Mulwray, this is where things start to get fun." Mr. Lyle said as he brought the needle to Brennan's left arm. 

  Brennan winced as he felt the needle enter his skin. Suddenly Brennan felt like his arm was on fire. The pain raced up his arm, making him clench his teeth together. He closed his eyes in an effort to ignore the pain but found it impossible. The pain had now spread to his chest and Brennan found it hard to breathe.

  "This is a special drug we created for interrogation purposes." Mr. Lyle said smiling as he leaned on a nearby table. "It's injected into your blood supply and from there it travels through your entire body. It lasts about an hour after each injection. I'm told that the pain is unbearable."

  Brennan tried to block the pain from his mind, imagining that it wasn't his body that was in pain, but couldn't concentrate. _Come on, he told himself silently, __what would Shalimar think if she saw you make such a scene over a little bit of pain. _

  He thought about Shalimar remembering all the times they had hung out together playing pool or working out, and he felt the pain slowly drift away so that it was more bearable. He knew he wouldn't give in to the pain, he couldn't. Too much was at stake. So he would just have to bear with it like he knew Shalimar would have.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Med Lab At Sanctuary, Same Time………_**

  Shalimar sat beside Sage's bed and watched his chest rise and fall. She had been there for about 10 minutes already. She knew she had to get back to searching the Genomex computer for any sign of Brennan but she couldn't. Searching the computer as one lead after another went nowhere was to much for Shalimar to bear. 

  She sensed someone enter the room and knew immediately that it was Adam. She knew that he wanted to talk to her but she couldn't. She knew that she'd just end up saying something mean and the last thing she wanted to do was upset him. 

  She took one last look at Sage and stood up, heading for the door.

  "Shalimar." Adam spoke softly, making her pause at the doorway. "We're going to get Brennan out of there, I promise you. We just need time."

  "Yeah." Shalimar said turning to stare at Adam. "Time that we may not have."

  Shalimar was on the verge of tears. She turned away from Adam so he couldn't see. She stood there for a moment trying to calm down. 

  Adam could tell that she was crying and it hurt him that he couldn't shield her from all the pain that she was feeling. He walked up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She tensed for a moment and then turned. When Adam saw the tears falling down her face he just took her in his arms and held her as she cried into his jumper.

  She was just getting herself under control when they heard Emma scream, and quickly separating they ran in the direction the scream had come from.

  When they got to the platform they could see Jesse kneeling next to Emma who was struggling to get up.

  "What happened?" Shalimar asked worriedly as she ran to her friend.

  "Emma was trying to link to Brennan's mind. All of a sudden she screamed and collapsed." Jesse answered looking worriedly at Emma who holding her head in between her hands.

  "Emma." Adam said it lightly, concern in his voice. She looked up at him.

  "I was able to link to Brennan's mind." Emma said, shaking a little. Adam nodded his head signaling for her to go on. "His mind was so confused. But I got a clear feeling that he was in so much pain."

  Shalimar and Jesse exchanged worried looks, while Adam looked at Emma.

  "Could you sense where he was?" Adam asked

  "No." Emma said shaking her head. "But it wasn't Genomex it was somewhere else. And there was an image of a number that went with the place but I couldn't make the number out." Emma finished a bit confused. 

  The other members looked at each other confused. 

  "Some of the GSA buildings use a number as identification, so as not to give the buildings location away if someone overhears them." Adam said thoughtfully. "Jesse and Shalimar I want you to search the Genomex computers and check for any thing to do with their different branches. Emma I want you to come to Med-Lab with me so I can check you out."

  Jesse and Shalimar quickly went to get started on the computers as Adam helped Emma to Med-Lab.


	8. Chapter 8

**_Med-Lab At Sanctuary, A Few Hours Later………_**

  Adam was checking Sage's vitals when Emma walked in. She had been resting in her room for the last hour but had gotten restless lying there when there was so much on her mind. She had tried to meditate but found it impossible to concentrate.

  Jesse and Shalimar were still searching the computers for any sign off Brennan. It made Emma feel useless because she couldn't give them any more information. She had tried privately in her room to connect with Brennan again but all she got was the same feeling of pain and the image of numbers.

  "How is he?" Emma asked Adam, smiling reassuringly when he looked at her concerned.

  "He's getting worse." Adam said sighing, rubbing the back of his neck. "If I knew what was causing his DNA to break done then I might be able to reverse it. But at the moment I don't know if it's natural or if it was triggered by something. If I knew more about what happened to his mother it would help." He looked questioningly at Emma.

  "We checked the computers earlier but there was no other information on his mother or the G.D Project." Emma said regretfully as she stared at Sage.

  "I'm going to try and bring down his temperature it's gotten dangerously high." Adam said as he moved over to the computer screen that was monitoring Sage's vitals.

  "Adam." Jesse called as he and Shalimar entered the room at a run. "We think we know where they're keeping Brennan. There's a GSA building outside of town which received a prisoner transfer less than an hour after Brennan was taken. It's called Building 24."

  "Good work you two." Adam said, relief flooding through his features. He went on to ask them about what they'd been able to find out about the buildings security so they could formulate a plan.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_   Sage was lost in the mist. _

_  He had been there for some time but he couldn't tell how long. He knew this was a dream and that out in the real world he was loosing a battle. _

_  When he'd first arrived on the dream plane it had been a big meadow full of green grass that swayed in the slight breeze. Slowly thou the landscape had changed becoming a barren wasteland. Then the mist had come. _

_  It happened slowly so at first Sage didn't realize what was happening. The mist covered the landscape blocking everything out, swallowing Sage up. From time to time voices from far away were able to come through the mist to reach him. _

_  Sage knew these voices were from the real world, and he'd tried to call out to them at times but knew it was useless._

_  The longer he was in the mist the weaker he became. _

_  With the last amount of strength that he could gather Sage reached out with his mind feeling for a connection with one of the voices. He did not have the strength to link with a mind on his own and was going to give up when he sensed a power reaching out to him. _

_  He grabbed hold of it allowing it connect with him using up the last of his strength. He then let go feeling the mist surround him once again._

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Med-Lab At Sanctuary………_**

  While the others talked, Emma was checking on Sage. She felt a little dizzy for a second and thought she felt someone calling out for help. Confused she felt for a link with the mind she had heard and was surprised when her mind linked with Sage's. 

  She saw Sage surrounded by mist, reaching out for her. She tried to grab hold of his hand but he was being pulled away, the mist swallowing him up. 

  Emma broke the link, and stumbled away from Sage's body, calling out to Adam.

  "Adam, it's Sage." Emma said frantically. "His hearts stopped."


	9. Chapter 9

**_Author's Notes: Sorry the last chapter was short. This one is a bit longer and hopefully I should have the next chapter up in a couple of days. Thanks for all the reviews; I really enjoy hearing what you think about the story. Oh and incase you were confused last chapter, when paragraphs are written in __Italic _****it means that they're dreaming. **

****

**_Building 24, Same Time………_**

  Brennan struggled against the binds that held his down on the surgical table. They had taken him here after they had grown bored of the injections and the face punching. Brennan wished they hadn't. He knew what they were planning on doing next and he knew it would be worse then what they had done so far.

  He heard someone enter the room and turned his head sideways to see Mr. Lyle walking towards him whistling a faltering tune. He came to stand at the head of the table and forced Brennan head down, strapping it to the table so he couldn't move it. 

  "You've done well so far Mr. Mulwray. Much better then I expected." Mr. Lyle said moving out of Brennan's limited range of vision and away from the table. "To be honest I expected you to give in after the second injection. Most do. But you didn't. If we had more time I would have spent longer with the injections to see what you're pain threshold was. But we're on a tight schedule."

  Brennan could hear Mr. Lyle setting up the equipment on one of those trolleys they always have at hospitals to move equipment around. He knew that Mr. Lyle was going slowly on purpose, some psychological thing; he also knew that it was working.

  At that moment Brennan hated all those people who seemed to think that just because he could throw of electricity that he was immune to it himself. How wrong they were. He heard the squeak of the trolley wheels as Mr. Lyle moved it over to the table.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Med-Lab At Sanctuary………_**

  Shalimar ran to Emma's side helping her stand as she repeated herself.

  "Adam. His hearts stopped." Emma said breathlessly. She could see the monitor beeping out the beat of Sage's heart, but knew that any second now it would flatten out. She looked at Adam desperately.

  Adam looked at the computer screen which showed Sage's heart rate. A second later he saw the line flatten out, and the machine started to beep. Rushing over to the table Adam quickly typed some commands into the computer. He then picked up a hand sized rectangular device that lay next to the computer, and placed it on Sage's chest. He pressed a key on the computer and they all watched as an electric charge was sent into Sage's body, making his body shake. When his heart gave no response Adam upped the charge and then shocked his again, his body shaking more visibly this time.

  Shalimar, Emma and Jesse looked on as Adam continued to shock Sage several more times in the next few minutes. Each shock causing his body to shake for a second and for the Mutant X teams hopes to fade. Even thou none of them knew Sage they hated the thought of loosing him, but felt helpless to stop it.

  After a few minutes of getting no response Adam stopped shocking Sage and removed the device from his chest. He looked at his watch as Shalimar and Emma clung to each other, both on the verge of tears, while Jesse stood silently in the corner a look of shock on his face.

  "Time of death 12:46." Adam said reluctantly. He hated to loose a New Mutant and knew that it would take time for the team to recover from the death. He walked over to Emma and Shalimar hugging each of them. Jesse still hadn't moved from his position in the corner of the room. As Adam went over to talk to him he heard Emma scream out in pain and turned around in time to see Emma fall to her knees.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_  Sage knew the moment his body stopped fighting._

_  He felt himself slipping away and knew he was dying and that in the real world they could do nothing to help him. _

_  As the darkness took over and the mist disappeared Sage could hear a jumble of voices calling out to him, welcoming him. And then another voice, a familiar voice telling him it wasn't time yet that he had to go back. _

_  He fought the voice; he didn't want to go back. He wanted to stay, but he knew it was useless, he was going back and he couldn't prevent it. He had been given a glimpse of this place and now he had to return to the real world._

_  Sage felt his connection to his body strengthening. He could feel it fixing itself, and he felt the pull of his body and felt himself being torn away from the voices. They faded away one by one until there was only one left, the voice that had told him he had to go back. He clung to it knowing that he wouldn't remember it but not wanting to loose it. _

_  There was a light up ahead now, and new, different voices could be heard there. He felt it pulling him faster and faster towards the light. He felt the last familiar voice from that strange place drift away, out of his reach. Defeated he stopped fighting the pull and focused on the light and the voices coming from there._

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Med-Lab At Sanctuary………_**

  Adam and Jesse rushed to Emma's side as she stared at Sage's body breathlessly.

  "What's wrong Emma?" Shalimar asked nervously fearing that something had happened to Brennan.

  Emma looked at her with a look of confusion and fear on her face. "Sage." She said as she stood up.

  The other members of Mutant X looked at each other in confusion. Suddenly the machine that was monitoring Sage's vital stats started beeping. The team looked up in time to see Sage's sit up gasping for breath.

  "What the.." Adam started to say, as Sage lay back down and stopped moving. The machines continued to beep but needing some more reassurance Adam stood up and checked Sage for a heartbeat. "He's alive." Adam said as he quickly checked the computer. "His temperature's gone down and all his stats have returned to normal. As far as I can tell he's going to be okay." 

  "What just happened?" Jesse asked looking to Adam for answers.

  "I don't know maybe it was some type of delayed reaction to the shocks, I'm not sure. Whatever it was Sage seems to have returned to perfect health. I can't find anything wrong with him." Adam turned from the computer and looked at Sage before turning to look at the members of Mutant X. Shalimar and Emma were smiling in relief as they went to check Sage and Jesse was standing nervously to the side, unsure of what to do.

  Shalimar suddenly looked at Adam nervously. "Is he in a coma because he's not moving?" She asked, afraid of what the answer might be.

  Adam was about to check the computers when Emma shook her head, giving Shalimar a reassuring smile. "He's just resting. He's had a rough week."

  "Good." Adam said as he rubbed the back of his neck. He turned to face Emma, concerned for her. He was about to ask her if she was okay when she looked up at him.

  "I'm fine Adam. It was just a shock that's all." Emma then looked at Sage thoughtfully. "I think he has some Psionic powers though. Both times when I connected with his mind it was like he was calling out to me."

  "We can check that out later." Adam said still concerned for her well being. "Are you going to be okay? Maybe it would be a good idea for you to sit this mission out."

  "No Adam I'll be fine. Right now we should be figuring out how we're going to get Brennan back." Emma looked over at Shalimar who was talking softly to Jesse over in the corner. After a few more moments they broke apart, Jesse heading out of the lab and Shalimar heading over to stand next to Emma.

  "Jesse's gone to check the computer to see when the guards change at the building where they're holding Brennan. We figure that's the best time to hit them." Shalimar said looking to Adam as if for approval. He nodded to Shalimar who then left the room.

  Adam watched her go. He was worried for her. He knew how she felt towards Brennan; you'd have to be blind not to have noticed the attraction between the two of them. He wondered if they had admitted to each other how they felt, or even if they'd admitted their feelings to themselves. He doubted it. Adam sighed slowly. He wondered what would happen to Shalimar if they were unable to save Brennan. 

  A hand on his arm distracted him from the destructive train of thoughts his mind had taken.

  "You worry too much." Emma said coming to stand in front of him, looking him straight in the eyes. "We're going to rescue Brennan and Shalimar will be just fine. It's like I told you earlier, she just needs time to deal with her emotions. Stop worrying." She gave him one last small smile and then left the room to prepare herself for the mission ahead.


	10. Chapter 10

**_Building 24………_**

 Brennan screamed in pain as an electric charge was sent into his chest via the four pads Mr. Lyle had attached there. In that moment of complete pain Brennan found himself wondering if he caused people this much pain when he used his powers on them. He doubted it. His energy was just enough to knock the guy down, and it didn't last long. The pain he was feeling now was constant, only stopping every couple of minutes for MR. Lyle to ask a question.

  Brennan wasn't sure how long this had been going on for, but knew it had been a while. He'd passed out once already from the pain and he could feel himself slipping away once again. In those last few seconds of consciousness Brennan wondered what they'd do to him after this and if he really wanted to know.

*#*

  Agent Mitchell entered the lab just as Brennan lost consciousness. 

  "How's it coming?" He asked as Mr. Lyle turned of the electric shock machine.

  "He's hanging on longer than I would of thought." Mr. Lyle said smiling insanely as he turned to look at Agent Mitchell. "But I'll break him; just give me a little more time."

  "You don't have more time Mr. Lyle." Mitchell answered glaring at Mr. Lyle. "Mr. Eckhart is not pleased with the amount of time this is taking. He's ordered me to return Mr. Mulwray to Genomex where a team has been assembled who are much better qualified to take care of the situation."

  "Telepaths?" Mr. Lyle spoke the word in disgust. Mitchell just nodded. "Fine. When is he to be transferred?"

  "You've got two hours." Mitchell said as he left the room leaving Mr. Lyle to decide what he was going to do to Brennan in that time frame.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

****

**_Sanctuary………_**

"Adam." Shalimar called as she ran into the Med-Lab, where Adam was checking Sage's vitals once more. "We don't have time to wait for the guards to change. Jesse just intercepted an e-mail from the building saying that they're transferring Brennan to Genomex in less than two hours."

  "Okay, you guys had better get moving. Are you ready?" Adam asked looking up from the computer screen to face Shalimar.

  "Jesse's waiting in the Double Helix and Emma's just grabbing her Jacket." Shalimar answered quickly knowing full well that that wasn't what he was asking. Before he could open his mouth Shalimar continued. "Look Adam I'd better go. They're probably waiting for me."

  She gave Adam a little goodbye wave and then left as quickly as she had come in. Adam stared after her for a few moments before turning to the computer and turning on the com-link that linked him from Med-Lab to the Double Helix.

  "Jesse." Adam said as he started to quickly type commands into the computer. "I'm sending you a computer program. When you get to the building upload it into their computer systems before you go in. it should disrupt all their cameras and electrical equipment for about 10 minutes so you have to be quick."

  "Okay got it Adam." Jesse voice came over the com-link sounding a little anxious. "See you soon."

  Adam started to pace the room. He hated being left behind. He wanted to be there on the mission but he knew that he'd only get in the way. He didn't have any powers and they wouldn't be able to protect him if something went wrong. Sighing to himself he sat down in front of the computer and started typing. _Well, he thought to himself, __I might as well try to catch up on some work while I wait._

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Double Helix………_**

****

  "Do we actually have a plan?" Emma asked as she looked from Shalimar to Jesse, who was sitting in front of her on the computers.

  "No, not yet." Shalimar said, not looking up from the computer screen. "According to the buildings mainframe they're holding Brennan in the interrogation section of the building in room C.3."

  "Where's that?" Emma asked, not wanting to go traipsing round the GSA building looking for Brennan.

  "I'm pulling up a schematic now." Jesse said as he typed away at the computer. A 3-d hologram of the building appeared in front of him, showing the different levels to the building, one level was flashing. "Room C.3 in on level 2, red section."

  "Okay so how do we get there?" Emma asked.

  Shalimar examined the hologram for a moment and then turned to look at Emma. 

  "When we arrive we'll upload the disk that Adam gave us into their database, hopefully it'll help cause confusion among the employees. You and Jesse go through the front door and cause a distraction. I'll go round the back and find my way in there. As soon as I find Brennan I'll call you and we'll meet outside here." Shalimar indicated a place on the holographic map. "Then we high-tail it out of there." She looked questionably at the other two, who both nodded their understanding, before turning back to the computer controls.

  They spent the rest of the trip in silence all of them going over the plan in their heads, trying not to think about what would happen if they failed. Finally a beeping sound told them that they had arrived at their destination.


	11. Chapter 11

**_Building 24………_**

  Brennan slowly felt himself coming around. His mind was a haze and he couldn't remember where he was. His whole body hurt and he could tell that he was bound to a table. He tried to open his eyes but found it hard. He heard a voice calling out to him and it took him a moment to focus enough to understand what he was saying.

  "Wakey, wakey Mr. Mulwray." Mr. Lyle spoke in a sing song voice. "It's time to get back to the questioning." 

  Brennan felt Mr. Lyle slap him on the face a couple of times until he was able to force his eyes open. The light in the room hurt his eyes for a few seconds before they adjusted. Mr. Lyle's smiling face looked down at him. 

  "I thought we'd try something new seeing as the electric shock and the injections haven't worked and we have so little time before you are transferred to Genomex." Mr. Lyle pressed a button on a hand held device and the table that Brennan was lying on began to rearrange itself into a chair. When the chair had arranged itself so Brennan was now sitting, Mr. Lyle fetched a flame thrower from the floor where it had been lying against the side of the trolley's holding the electro shock equipment. "I know you're not a feral so I doubt the fear response will be as great for you but believe me this'll hurt like hell."

  Mr. Lyle turned the flame thrower on and allowed the flame to be directed slowly towards Brennan until it was a few inches away from his left arm. Close enough so he could feel the heat but not close enough that there was much pain. It seemed to be another of the guys Psychological things like the squeaky trolley earlier, and as before it was working. Brennan tried to prepare himself for the pain but he knew it was useless. Once when he was younger Brennan had been trapped in a burning building. He had received burns on his arms and chest before the fire department had arrived and put the fire out. The pain he had felt then was only marginal to what he would fell now, he knew it. After all before the flames had just nicked his skin, this time he knew that they were going to do more than that.

  "Shall we begin?" Mr. Lyle asked, as if Brennan really had a choice in the matter. Brennan would have punched him if his arms hadn't been bound to the chair. Slowly Mr. Lyle brought the flame closer to Brennan's arm, until the flame was almost touching it. Brennan tried to hold the screams back but the pain was too great. He cried out, angrily once before biting down hard on his lips until he could taste blood in his mouth. He didn't want to give Mr. Lyle the satisfaction of hearing him scream. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Outside Building 24………_**

****

  Jesse and Emma stood outside the grey building watching the front entrance. There were two guards standing outside the building while they could make out at least five in the lobby. 

  "Shal, we're going in." Jesse spoke softly into his com-link ring. He and Emma started to make their way towards the building trying to act casual, not wanting to raise an alarm prematurely. 

  "Jesse." Shalimar's voice came over his com-link; luckily they weren't close enough for the guards to hear. "I set the Computer on the Double Helix to download Adam's disk into their system at exactly 6:05. We'll have about 10 minutes until their security systems start working again. You and Emma just distract the guards so they won't get in my way while I look for Brennan." 

  Of course she'd already told them this before they split up but Jesse didn't remind her. The last thing he wanted was to argue with Shalimar when she was already as angry as hell. Emma glanced at her watch and showed the time to Jesse. It was 6:04.

  "Show time." Emma said softly as she walked ahead of Jesse until she was only a few feet away from the two guards who stood outside the doors to the building. She smiled at them, and then forming the picture of the guards sleeping peacefully, she sent it out to each of them in turn. She watched satisfied as both guards collapsed to the floor, asleep.

  "Remind me to call you if I ever have trouble sleeping." Jesse said as he came up behind her to admire her work. He glanced through the glass door in front of them and observed as the guards inside seemed to be hunched around the security desk, arguing amongst themselves. "Looks like Adam's disk is working. Shall we?" Jesse asked holding his hand out for Emma to take. When she did they both headed into the building. None of the guards seemed to notice their entrance, they were to busy trying to figure out what was wrong with their computer systems. 

  "Hey guys." Jesse called out loudly to catch the guard's attention, which he did.  One of the guards glared at Jesse and signaled to the four guards around him to deal with them. 

  As one guard came towards Jesse, he gave him a hard kick to the face, surprising the guard who stumbled backwards. Another guard tried to take a swing at him but Jesse massed out before the guard connected with his chest. There was a crack indicating that something had been broken, and the guard fell to the floor clutching his arm to his chest. The first guard returned this time more cautious. They exchanged blows for a few moments before Jesse was able to get the upper hand with a hard punch to the ribs followed up with a kick in the face when he was bent over. 

  While this was going on the other two guards tried to grab Emma. She dodged one agent's outstretched hands as she punched the other in the face. The first guard grabbed her from behind, trying to pin her arms to her side. Emma brought her foot down on the guy's foot, digging her heel into him. When him grip slackened she pulled her arms away and shoved her left elbow into his chest. She then grabbed one of his arms as he tried to regain his breath, and twisting it behind his back she shoved him into the other agent who had recovered from the punch to the face. They both fell to the floor, hard.

  "Are you having fun?" Jesse called to Emma as he came up behind her. She nodded as she kicked one of the agents on the floor in the head as he tried to rise. "Good, because we've got more company." Jesse pointed to the other end of the lobby where 7 more agents had just appeared, some carrying tasers. As he and Emma prepared themselves for the fight ahead he wondered if Shalimar was having as much fun as they were and if she had found Brennan yet.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  **_Inside Building 24………_**

  Shalimar walked quietly down the stairs, not wanting to be heard as she made her way to Level 2, wondering why Level 2 was below ground. She had entered the building easily through an open window round back. From there she had headed through the building trying to remember as best she could the layout of the place. She had been lucky in finding stairs that were actually labeled, telling her where Level 2 was. She had met a few agents and research staff as she made her way through the building but none of them had slowed her down to much.

  As she exited the stairs on Level 2 she was immediately struck by the noise of a cry of pain which she recognized as Brennan's. Making her way hurriedly in the direction the cry had come from she wondered angrily what they were doing to him and how long they'd live once she got her hands on them.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Notes: Thanks again for all the reviews; I really enjoy hearing what people think about my work. I'll try to have the next chapter within a couple of days but it may take longer as I have to sit some of my exams this week, and I'll be busy revising. So I'm apologizing in advance in case you have to wait a while for the next installment. I'm very sorry. Also please keep those reviews coming as I'm very insecure about my work and would like to know what people thought about this chapter. (Who do you hate more Mr. Lyle or Mitchell?)**

****

****

****

**_Security Office At Building 24………_**

  Agent Mitchell stormed angrily into the security office, pushing rudely past some security guards that stood in his way. He made his way over to the head of security, who was standing over some computers.

  "What the hell is going on here?" Agent Mitchell demanded glaring at the head of security. "I was up in my office when the computer suddenly stopped working, I come down here to check and see what's going on and all hells broken loose."

  "We have a situation here sir." The security officer said. "Someone has uploaded a virus into our computer system. It's crashed all our computers and security equipment. Before our communications system went out a few minutes ago we were informed that we have an unknown amount of intruders in the lobby area. Without the com system working I can't send any reinforcements to check it out."

  The security officer turned back to the computers and continued typing away, trying to find a way to counteract the virus. While he did this Agent Mitchell stood for a moment thinking. _It has to be those Mutant X freaks out to save their team member, he thought to himself, __well they're not going to succeed. Mitchell stormed over to the entrance to the security office and rounded on a group of officers that were just standing around unsure of what to do._

  "You five follow me, we going to secure a prisoner." Mitchell ordered angrily before making his way out of the office and towards the stairs followed by the five agents.

****

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

****

**_Brennan's Cell, Building 24………_**

  Brennan had tried to hold his screams back, but the pain as the flames beat his skin was too great. Mr. Lyle had moved from his left arm to his right one and then to his chest. He would stop every couple of minutes to ask questions or just to make some snide comment about how he was going to break him. It didn't matter anyway. Brennan could hardly focus on his words let alone understand what they meant. The pain was just too great. 

  Mr. Lyle was getting annoyed now, Brennan could tell. Brennan wasn't sure if it was because Brennan refused to answer his questions, or if it was because he wouldn't get the chance to make him. Either way Mr. Lyle had become more intense, a crazy smile on his lips as he watched the flames attack Brennan's flesh. He also seemed to like the smell of Brennan's burning flesh, because he kept breathing in deeply.

  Mr. Lyle turned off the flame thrower for a couple of minutes as he bombarded Brennan with questions. Brennan couldn't understand him; all he noted was that Mr. Lyle's mouth was moving, he couldn't make out any words. 

  Brennan hissed in pain as Mr. Lyle applied pressure to one of his many burn marks. His whole body was in pain by now and he was finding it hard to fight the darkness that kept threatening to overtake him. 

  Dimly, Brennan registered the fact that the flame thrower had been turned back on. He couldn't identify when the flame touched his flesh, he was in so much pain already. 

  In the last few moments before Brennan lost consciousness he thought he heard someone familiar in the room, but before he could register who he was surrounded by darkness.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Inside Building 24………_**

  Shalimar burst into the cell where the cry had come from and halted in shock. She saw Brennan strapped into a chair, his body and arms covered in bruises and burn marks. He was slumped down unconscious, while a man stood over him with a flame thrower directed at Brennan's flesh. 

  Shalimar felt her anger explode inside of her as she stared at Brennan's hurt form. She felt herself go completely into feral mode, her eyes shining yellow. As she embraced her growing anger a low growl escaped her lips.

  The man looked up in surprise at Shalimar as she flung herself at him. She landed on top of him knocking him to the floor, the flame thrower dropped from his grip and crashed into the wall, setting it alight. 

  The man tried to struggle out of Shalimar grip as she sat on top of his chest, but she backhanded him, knocking him unconscious. Her mind didn't seem to register this fact and she continued to beat on his face and chest. 

  She stopped only when she noticed that her hands were covered in blood, and looking at the man beneath her she was shocked to note that he was completely unrecognizable, his face destroyed by her angry fists, and was lying in a large pool of blood. 

  As she pushed herself away from him she noted that he was dead, she had no time to think about that however as she noted that the room was on fire. 


	13. Chapter 13

**_Lobby Of Building 24………_**

  Jesse jumped backwards as a taser was slung at his chest by a mean looking officer. Another officer tried to take advantage and came at him from the side but Jesse was prepared. When he was near enough Jesse grabbed his, giving him a quick kick in the leg, and then shoved him into the officer with the taser, causing them both to be shocked by the taser. 

  Before Jesse could take a breather another officer jumped in front of him and landed a kick to his face making him stumble backwards into the wall. While Jesse tried to recover he saw the agent come at him again and Jesse quickly massed out, allowing the agent to slam into him and then collapse to the ground.

  While this was happening Emma was taking care of another group of security officers. As she was not as violent as the rest of the team she was using her telempathic ability to make two agents think they were blind. As they stumbled around unable to see Emma was hit in the side by an agent's fist. Turning around she kicked the agent in the chest and then turned around in time to dodge another agent's fists. She quickly hit him in the face with the back of her left fist before punching him in the chest with her other hand. 

  Taking a look around Emma was surprised to find the ground littered with at least 10 unconscious officers. Apart from the five officers that Emma had made think they were blind, there were only four left who were still on their feet. Looking over at Jesse she nodded to the four remaining officers and they both made their way slowly towards them, getting ready to finish them off.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Inside Building 24………_**

  There were flames everywhere, Shalimar was surprised she hadn't noticed the smoke but she had had other things on her mind at the time. She quickly felt her fear of flames over take her and she felt herself become paralyzed, unable to move. The fire seemed to surround her so that it was all that she saw. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Brennan's still form and she felt herself fighting the fear that had overtaken her. She had to save Brennan which meant there was no time for fear. It didn't surprise her that Brennan was the one thing in the world that could make her fight the overwhelming fear that the fire caused her.

  She quickly hurried over to the chair Brennan was strapped into. He was still unconscious and she was afraid to touch him for fear of causing him pain, but she needed to get him out of there before the flames completely covered the room. 

  "Jesse." Shalimar spoke desperately into her com-link ring as she took care of the binds that held Brennan to the chair. "I've found Brennan. He's unconscious. The place is on fire, I don't think I'm going to be able to get him to the Double Helix. I need you guys to bring the Double Helix round back."

  "Alright Shal, we'll head over there now." Jesse's voice came over the com-link a bit out of breath.

  "Shal." Emma's worried voice came over the com-link. "How's Brennan?"

  "He looks pretty bad." Shalimar said, her voice breaking. Shaking it off, she lifted Brennan up from the chair, placing his arm over her shoulder. She clung to his with her left arm and proceeded to drag him towards the door. By now the flames had reached the door. Fighting her fear of flames Shalimar headed through them, her only concern was for Brennan's safety. A few flames nicked her skin but she barely registered the pain. 

  Dragging Brennan through the door she made her way down the hall towards the stairs that led upstairs. 

  As she turned a corner she found herself face to face with five security officers and Agent Mitchell.

  "Why Mrs. Fox what a surprise running into you down here." Mitchell said sneering at her. 

  "Get out of my way." Shalimar growled, her voice low and dangerous. 

  "I think not Mrs. Fox." Mitchell said as he looked at the officers around him. "Take care of her."

  The agents came at her slowly, which gave her enough time to lay Brennan down on the ground. The first agent who made a move to grab her was treated to a swift punch to the face that sent him flying backwards into the wall. She was already in full Feral mode and every second that these guys were holding her up seemed to make her eyes glow stronger. 

  Shalimar jumped in the air and swung her legs out connecting with two agents' heads making them both fall to the ground. As she landed she caught sight of Mitchell standing in the background. She felt her anger increase ten fold as she stared at his leering face. _This was all his fault, she realized. If he hadn't have taken Brennan, then the one person she loved so much in the world wouldn't have been put through so much pain._

  Enraged she pounced at him but was stopped by one of the remaining two officers. He had gotten his hands on a piece of lead piping from somewhere and a blow to her stomach caused her to fall to the ground, gasping for breath. The officers came at her fast hoping to restrain her, but she recovered quickly and jumping up she kicked one agent in the side of the head. Before the other officer could react, she grabbed his right arm and twisting it she shoved her elbow into it. When she heard the bone give, followed by a cry of pain, she threw the officer into the wall before turning around to face Mitchell. During the fight he had made a hasty escape and was already halfway down the hall.

  "Mitchell!" Shalimar screamed as she slowly advanced on him. He turned around at the sound of her voice. "We have some unfinished business."

  "I don't think so Mrs. Fox." Mitchell said as he glanced behind her. "This building is about to go up and while you may not care if you live or die, I bet you care if Mr. Mulwray does."

  With that he turned and ran. Shalimar wanted to follow him but she knew she couldn't leave Brennan. He was the important thing at the moment. Save him and later she could think about taking revenge on Mitchell. 

  Turning around she noted that the fire had spread without her knowledge again and like before she had to fight the fear that frightened to overtake her. Once again it was the thought of Brennan that saved her from being engulfed by the fear, and she quickly made her way over to him. Throwing his arm around her shoulder and placing her arm around his mid-section she lifted him up and again made her way towards the stairs.

  It was slow work even with Shalimar's increased strength, and when they finally made it to the stairs she allowed herself only a few seconds to reposition her grip on Brennan's body and then made her way up the stairs. The stairs were hard work and her muscles where screaming in objection when they were only half way there, but Shalimar refused to give in. She couldn't risk stopping for a second to rest as the fire had spread and the stairs were filled with smoke. 

  When they finally reached the level she wanted, Shalimar breathed a sigh of relief. Exiting the stairwell she dragged Brennan in the direction that she had first entered the building by, but stopped. She couldn't climb out the window with Brennan; she needed to find another way out. 

  "Guys." Shalimar spoke into her com-link ring. "I'm on the ground floor but I can't get Brennan out the way I came in. I need you to tell me in what direction the nearest exit is."

  There was a brief pause as Jesse and Emma checked her position on the holographic map.

  "Continue the way you were heading for a couple of meters and you should come to a turning on your left. Go down there and then go through the second door on your right. It should lead you right outside where we'll be waiting."

  Shalimar followed Jesse's directions and quickly found the turning. Heading down the hall she ran into two security guards. When they saw her, one of them pulled out a gun, while the other made a grab for her.

  "I don't have time for this." Shalimar growled as she gently laid Brennan on the ground.

  Turning, she kicked the unarmed guard in the face, and jumping over him she knocked the gun out of the other guard's hands before punching him out. Picking Brennan up she made it to the door she was looking for and pulled it open, her senses immediately confronted by the sound of Jesse calling to her. 

  Turning in the direction the call had come from she saw Jesse running towards her. When he arrived he quickly grabbed Brennan's other side and helped Shalimar get him to the Double Helix, which was waiting for them only a few meters away.

  When they got there Jesse helped Shalimar lay Brennan down on a chair while he went to pilot the Double Helix. As they took off, Emma came back and gasped in horror when she saw the state that Brennan was in.

  "Oh my God!" Emma said looking at Shalimar. "Is he going to be okay?"

  "He'll be fine." Shalimar said forcefully. _I hope, she thought. "How long until we get to Sanctuary?"_

  "Um, Jesse said about 10 minutes." Emma said a little distracted as she stared again at Brennan. "He's called ahead to Adam so he can get the lab ready."

  Emma sensing that Shalimar wanted to be alone took one last glance at Brennan before leaving the room to join Jesse.

  Shalimar sat down on a chair next to Brennan and took one of his hands in hers and held it to her cheek. It hurt her to see Brennan like this and she felt the tears fall down her cheek. She didn't try to stop them she just let them come. 

  "You're going to be fine." Shalimar whispered, more to herself then to Brennan. "We'll get back to Sanctuary and Adam will fix you up and everything will be fine." 

  Looking down at Brennan she didn't know what she would do if something happened to him. It surprised her that her feelings for Brennan were so strong. She hadn't realized before how much Brennan meant to her. 

  She stared hard at Brennan's bruised face and chest and again felt her anger rise. Her eyes flashed yellow as she swore to herself that she'd make the GSA, especially Mitchell, pay for what they'd done to Brennan. After her brief moment of anger, grief overtook her once again and she cried into Brennan's hand for the rest of the trip back to Sanctuary.


	14. Chapter 14

**_Authors Notes: Well here's the next chapter, don't worry there's only a couple more to come after this one and hopefully it won't take me to long to put them up here. I'm very busy at the moment revising for my exams and also writing some more Mutant X Fan Fiction which I'll hopefully put up here soon. I want to thank everyone who's been reviewing my work, I really appreciate it. Please read and review._**

****

****

****

**_Sanctuary………_**

  Shalimar paced the hall outside the Med-Lab while Jesse and Emma leaned against the far wall. They'd been back for about half an hour and Adam was still treating Brennan. The moment they had returned Brennan was rushed to the Med-Lab where Adam had then kicked everyone out so he could work on Brennan in peace. 

  None of them had spoken much since they had returned. They were all too worried about Brennan. 

  When they'd first arrived, Emma sensing the conflicting emotions coming of off Shalimar had tried to comfort her and calm her down, but to no avail. Now Shalimar just paced the floor angrily stopping every now and then to glance at the Med-Lab door before continuing with her pointless pacing.

  Shalimar was just about to storm into Med-Lab and demand that Adam tell her what was going on, when the door to the Lab opened and he came out. Shalimar hurried up to him.

  "How is he?" She demanded, worried for Brennan.

  "I was able to take care of the burn marks on his body he shouldn't have any scars." Adam said addressing the rest of the group who had also come to surround him. "He has a broken rib and some bruised ones which are going to hurt for a while. He also had some internal bleeding which I was lucky to be able to stop."

  "Yeah but how is he?" Shalimar demanded irritably, impatient for a straight answer.

  "At the moment he's in a coma. I'm not sure if it's because of the injuries he's suffered or if it's something more." Adam said as the whole team looked at him worried. "There's nothing more I can do. It's up to him now."

  Everyone was quiet for a moment absorbing the information. None of them wanted to believe that Brennan wasn't going to get better but they all knew it was a possibility.

  "I'm going in to see him." Shalimar stated, her eyes daring Adam to say no.

  "His body is still healing but I can't see any harm in a brief visit." Adam said stepping aside so Shalimar could enter the lab, followed by Jesse. Emma hesitated at the door and looked at Adam giving him a brief smile before entering the lab.

  Shalimar and Jesse were already standing over Brennan, checking him out for themselves. Emma noticed that Shalimar was holding one of Brennan's hands and absently playing with his hair.

  As she moved around the table and got a better look at Brennan, she noted that except for a few bruises on his chest he looked fine. It surprised her after seeing him before, when they'd rescued him, the state he'd been in, but then they had very advanced equipment here. 

  "Guys." Adam's low but authoritive voice made them all turn to look at him. "I think it's a good idea if you leave now. I have some tests I have to run and I think you could all use some rest, it's been a long week."

  The group nodded and after taking one more look at Brennan, as if to reassure themselves that he really was still alive, they left one by one, last being Shalimar. She leaned down giving Brennan a kiss on his forehead.

  "See you in the morning." Shalimar whispered into Brennan's ear, before leaving the lab.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Sanctuary, Night………_**

****

  Emma woke up with a start and, turning on her bedside lamp, she glanced around her room. She could have sworn that she had heard someone calling out to her. As she was about to turn her light off, so she could get some rest, she heard it again. No, felt, she corrected herself. She could feel the voice calling to her. Curious, she stood up in bed and made her way out the door and down the hall in the direction the voice had come from. She came to a door and after making sure that it wasn't one of her team member's rooms she opened the door and stepped into the room.

  The light from the hall shone down on the bed, showing the occupant to be Sage. _Adam must have moved him here while we were gone, Emma realized as she made her way over to his bed, wondering if he was the one she had felt calling out. _

  As if in reply, Sage opened his eyes and looked at her with a questioning look on his face.

  "Sage." Emma spoke softly not wanting to make to much noise. He tried to say something but his throat was to dry and no words came out. "It's okay Sage. You're safe here. My friends and I have been taking care of you for the last couple of days, while you were sick." 

  Sage nodded his head to show he understood and then indicated his throat, to show that he needed some water. Emma nodded understandingly and got up from where she had kneeled beside the bed.

  "I'm going to go get you some water and then I'm going to go wake Adam. He'll probably want to run some tests on you to make sure you're alright, okay?" 

  Sage nodded his head to show he understood and Emma quickly left the room.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

****

**_Med-Lab At Sanctuary, Morning………_**

  Adam was looking over the scans he had taken from Sage the night before when Emma walked in.

  "How is he?" Adam asked Emma, turning around to look at her.

  "Okay I guess." Emma replied, trying not to look at Brennan's still form. "He's confused about the whole situation with the GSA and what we found out about his mother, but he's taking it well. What did your scans reveal?"

  "He seems to have fully recovered from his injuries. I want to keep him under observation for a couple of days to make sure but he should be fine." Adam replied. "What I want to know is what his mutation is."

  "Can't you tell that now that you have an uncorrupted sample of his blood?" Emma asked as she came to stand next to Adam so she could see the computer screen showing Sage's results. 

  "Well, from his DNA, I can tell that he's a feral..." Adam pointed to a section of the computer that showed Sage's genetic make-up, pointing to specific sections as he spoke. "..And that he's a Psionic. However I'm not exactly sure what type yet, we'll need to talk to Sage about it later. Also when Shalimar and Brennan first encountered Sage, he was shot. Now when Sage was brought here, I examined him and he showed no sign of having been shot so it's likely to assume that he's got increased regenerative capabilities, possibly due to his Feral DNA. Although if that is so it's unlike any Feral healing abilities that I've encountered." 

  "Do you want me to bring Sage down to the lab later so you can run some more in depth scans?" Emma asked, knowing that Adam would want to discover if there was something else up with Sage's Mutant DNA seeing as he wasn't a normal New Mutant.

  "Yes that would help." Adam said nodding as he glanced once more at Sage's scan results before closing the file and shutting off the computer terminal. 

  "How's Brennan doing?" Emma suddenly asked, knowing that nothing had changed but hoping it had.

  "His stats are the same." Adam said as they both made their way to stand next to Brennan's still form. "He hasn't got any worse but there's been no improvement."

  Emma nodded before making her way out of the lab and back to her room. She needed to catch up on some much needed rest. Jesse and Shalimar were still asleep and Emma suspected that Adam had slipped them a sedative the night before so that they would sleep. She was glad he had as they all needed some rest. 

  As she made her way into her room she heard the sound of Adam's door opening and closing, signaling that Adam was also returning to bed to try and catch up on some sleep. Turning off her light, she collapsed into bed and willed for sleep to come to her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Sanctuary, an hour later………_**

  Shalimar sneaked out of her room and made her way silently down the hall to Med-Lab. She was happy to note that Adam had already gone to bed. She was angry with him for giving her the sedative the night before but she was also glad because she needed to be rested for what she was planning to do.

  As she reached Brennan's still form she stared at him for a few minutes before bending down and whispering into Brennan's ear.

  "I'm going to make him pay for what he did to you, Brennan. I promise." Shalimar said before kissing him on the forehead. 

  She quickly left the lad and made her way down to the garage to get her motorcycle. She already knew where she had to go. Before she had fallen asleep she had searched the computer database and had come up with a location where Mitchell was likely to be. 

  As she made her way out of Sanctuary she remembered to leave a message on the computer system saying that she was going for a ride, just in case someone woke up while she was gone.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_An _****_Old_********_Building_****_ On The Outskirts Of Town………_**

****

  Shalimar pulled up outside the building and glanced around. The building used to be a warehouse, which Shalimar had been able to find out was owned by Mitchell. She figured he was most likely here hiding from the GSA after his failure. Shalimar knew that Eckhart didn't like failure, and she only hoped that she had gotten here before Mitchell had gotten away.

  As she made her way towards the building she smiled to herself. He was in there. Shalimar could smell him. He was also alone which meant that nothing could get in her way this time. 

  She found an open window and climbed into the building. She made her way carefully through the lower level of the building towards the back where she could sense Mitchell was.

  She entered a room and smiled to herself as her eyes fell on her prey. He was standing in front of a safe trying to open it. 

  Something alerted him and he turned around suddenly. Before he had a chance to react, Shalimar pounced on him, knocking him to the floor. Her anger had erupted inside her once again making her eyes shine Feral. 

  She jumped on Mitchell before he had a chance to get up and she pinned his hands to the floor as she glared at his face. 

  "What you going to kill me now?" Mitchell asked as he struggled to get out from underneath her. "You don't have it in you."

  "Oh I have it in me." Shalimar hissed at him. "People like you don't deserve to live. But you know what? You're not worth it."

  "You're not going to kill me?" Mitchell asked suspiciously. 

  "No I'm not going to kill you. Death's too good for you." Shalimar said as she continued to glare at him. "I'm going to leave you here for Eckhart to deal with."

  She let what she said sink in and smiled when Mitchell's eyes widened in fear. Before he could say anything Shalimar knocked him out and then retrieving a pair of handcuffs from her back pocket she handcuffed him to the safe knowing that he'd be unable to move it.

  As she made her way out of the building she felt her anger leave her completely to be replaced by guilt. She had come here tonight intent on killing Mitchell whom she had blamed for what had happened to Brennan. But when she had found him she had realized that he wasn't the one she blamed. She blamed herself. She felt guilty for not being able to stop Brennan from being taken and not being there to stop him from being hurt.


	15. Chapter 15

****

**_Authors Notes: Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing my story I really enjoy reading what people think. As I mentioned last time I'm still revising for my exams so I've been really busy. There's just one more chapter to go after this one and it will probably be up at the weekend unless I get swamped down with my revision. Please read and review this chapter. _**

****

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

****

**_Sanctuary, Next Day………_**

****

  Adam was once again looking through Sage's most recent scans when Emma and Jesse entered the lab. Shalimar was working out with Sage in the training room.

  "Found anything interesting?" Jesse asked as Emma was checking Brennan.

  "Yes actually. I think I've discovered why the GSA wants Sage so badly. Come look at this." Adam replied as he brought up Sage's DNA scan. Jesse and Emma made their way over to the screen so that they could see what he was talking about. Adam motioned to different points on the screen as he spoke. "You see these strands of DNA. Well they represent inactive strands of Mutant DNA in Sage's genetic make-up. According to these scans his DNA is littered with them. Now like I said they're inactive at the moment, but there is the possibility that some of them could become active as Sage gets older. Eckhart probably wanted him so that they could try and activate those strands of Mutant DNA, or at least figure out how to recreate it in another New Mutant."

  Emma and Jesse stared at Adam a bit in shock. They knew how dangerous Eckhart could be if he could find a way to create a Mew Mutant with that much power.

  Before either of them could speak Shalimar entered the Lab followed by Sage.

  "Is he any better?" Shalimar asked as she looked at Brennan, blaming herself for his current situation.

  "There's no change." Adam said regretfully. "The longer he's like this the less likely it is that he'll recover."

  "Isn't there anything you could do for him?" Shalimar asked a tear coming to her eyes as she spoke. Adam shook his head no.

  "Um… I might have an idea." Sage said, speaking softly. Adam turned to look at him. "My psionic ability allows me to enter a person's dream and connect with their mind. It gives me the ability to control the person's dream as well as communicate with them. I know Brennan isn't sleeping but I think I can still find my way into his mind. If I can get in I might be able to get him to come out."

  Adam thought about it a moment nodding his head. The rest of the team looked at him hopefully, wanting it to be possible. "It might be dangerous for you. You still haven't recovered fully. Are you sure you want to risk it?"

  Sage nodded his head. "Brennan was hurt because he was trying to help me. The least I can do is try and help him now."

  Adam nodded and 10 minutes later Sage was lying on a surgical table that had been placed opposite Brennan. He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, letting his body relax.

  When he was relaxed he opened his mind up and focused on a mental image of Brennan. It took him only a moment to find Brennan's mind and a couple of seconds longer to link to him. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_ Sage found himself in the middle of a grey mist. _

_ He could sense Brennan was nearby and made his way through the mist._

_ He tried to make the mist disappear but it remained. _

_This wasn't like a dream Sage realized. With dreams Sage was always in control, but here his powers didn't seem to have much effect._

_As he walked the mist suddenly cleared and it took Sage a moment to realize that he had come to an opening where the mist had yet to take over._

_Looking around he saw Brennan curled up like a ball in the far corner. He didn't seem to have noticed that Sage was there yet so Sage called out to him._

_Brennan looked up fearfully, relaxing slightly when he saw Sage._

_"The mist won't stop coming." He said as he glanced around. "I tried wandering around, to look for an exit but I couldn't find one. There's no escape, soon the mist will swallow me up, it'll swallow you up too, if you're still here."_

_"Brennan, I've come to take you back, back to your friends. But I can't do that unless you help me." Sage said as he bent down beside Brennan. _

_Brennan shook his head. "I can't. I've tried."_

_"Brennan your friends want you to fight." Sage spoke trying to get him to move. "Shalimar wants you to fight."_

_The last sentence seemed to get through to Brennan as he stood up and looked at Sage with a determined look on his face._

_"What do I do?" Brennan asked._

_"Make the mist go away." Sage replied simply._

_Brennan looked at him for a moment before nodding his head and staring at the mist._

_For a moment nothing happened, but then the mist slowly began to shrink away until finally there was none left._

_"Now what?"__ Brennan asked looking at Sage._

_"Now we leave." Sage said as he took hold of Brennan's hand and focused on leaving this part of his mind and going onto the dream plane._

_When they arrived Sage let go of Brennan and then pointed to a tunnel that lay before them._

_"That's the way out." Sage spoke. "All you have to do is walk down that tunnel and you'll leave the dream plane and return to the real world. Do you understand?" _

_Brennan nodded his head and after thanking Sage, started to make his way through the tunnel. _

_Sage smiled as he watched him go and then focusing on his own body he felt the pull as he left Brennan's mind._

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Sanctuary………_**

  Sage opened his eyes and sat up, feeling a bit dizzy. A moment later Brennan's body gave a slight jerk before he too opened his eyes. He looked up at the concerned faces of Shalimar, Jesse, Emma and Adam.

  "Hey." He said weakly before closing his eyes once more.

  "Is he okay?" Shalimar asked worriedly.

  "He's fine, he's just sleeping." Sage replied as he tried to stand. His dizziness had increased and he had to close his eyes to stop the room from spinning.

  "Hey Sage you'd better lie back down." Adam said as he noted that Sage wasn't feeling well. When he complied Adam set about examining him. "You were in there for a few hours and you obviously have used up what little strength you had left. I'm going to do a few tests to make sure that you're okay though."

  Sage nodded before he too fell asleep, obviously exhausted.

  "I think it's best if we leave these two in peace." Adam said looking at the remainder of the team who stood around Brennan. "I have some tests I need to do and I think it would be best if you all tried to get some rest. You can visit tomorrow. Okay"

  The team members nodded reluctantly, knowing it was no use arguing with him. They left the Med-Lab and all headed for their rooms, still tired despite their sleep the night before.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 **_Genomex_****_, Eckharts Office………_**

****

**_    Eckhart glared at Mitchell, who stood in front of his desk nervously._**

  "Well Agent Mitchell, it seems you have failed me yet again." Eckhart said in his calm creepy voice. "Not only did Mr. Mulwray escape before you could extract any information from him, but the entire complex where he was being held has burned down to the ground." His voice had risen slightly at this point showing his outrage. 

  "Mr. Eckhart sir." Mitchell spoke pleadingly. "What happened at the complex wasn't my fault I…"

  "No more excuses Agent Mitchell." Eckhart interrupted. He pressed a button on his computer and two guards entered the room to stand behind Mitchell who was trembling in fear knowing what was going to happen next. "You have failed me for the last time." Looking at the guards behind Agent Mitchell he addressed them. "Take him to brown sector. They'll deal with him." 

  Eckhart then swiveled around in his chair smiling as Agent Mitchell screamed for another chance as he was dragged out of the room. 


	16. Chapter 16

**_Authors Notes: This is the final chapter of my story. I'm thinking of writing a sequel to this story, as I liked writing the character Sage, so that might be up here soon. If you would like to read more of my work I've just uploaded the first chapter of a new Mutant X story, called "Memories", that I've been working on, so please read and review that. I've really enjoyed writing this story and I've loved reading all your reviews. Once again I'd just like to thank everyone who has reviewed my story, I really appreciate it. Please read and review this chapter._**

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~**__**

****

**_Sanctuary, Night………_**

  Shalimar creped out of her room and headed to the Med-Lab. It was late and everyone else was asleep. As she entered the Lab she noted that Brennan's was alone. Adam had moved Sage back to the spare room after it became apparent that he was fine and just needed rest. 

  As Shalimar sat down next to Brennan's still form she lifted his hand to her cheek and gently leaned her head on it, closing her eyes. She stayed like that for a couple of minutes before she was interrupted from her thoughts.

  "Shalimar." Brennan's tired and confused voice intruded on Shalimar's thoughts making her open her eyes. "Where am I?"

  "It's okay. You're at Sanctuary, you're safe." Shalimar said barely able to contain her joy. She leaned down and kissed him on his cheek and then hugged him tightly to her until he groaned in pain. "I'm sorry, I forgot the injured ribs."

  "It's okay." Brennan said amused at the look of guilt on Shalimar's face. "I don't think you did any permanent damage."

  Shalimar started to cry and Brennan sat up so he could hold her gently to him and rock her. "Shhh. Everything's okay now. I'm fine, everything's fine. There's nothing to cry about."

  "Oh, Brennan. It's all my fault." Shalimar said as she cried into his shoulder. "I shouldn't have let them take you. If I hadn't been preoccupied I would have sensed them coming and I would have been able to get to you in time. It's my fault they took you. I'm sorry."

  Brennan tried to comfort her but she moved away from him and stood a few feet away tears streaming down her face. 

  "I don't know what I would have done if I had lost you." Shalimar gasped out. "I love you so much, I can't stand the thought of loosing you."

  Brennan looked at her in surprised; shocked that she had such strong feelings for him. In his heart he guessed he'd always known that he loved her but the thought that she might return the feeling had never crossed his mind. 

  She turned suddenly and before Brennan could even think he was standing in front of her holding her in his arms, his lips seeking hers. They kissed passionately for a few moments, breaking away finally to catch a breath of air before returning their lips to each others. They kissed each other hungrily, as if each one was feeding of off something from the other. When they finally broke apart they stared intently into each other's eyes.

  "I love you so much." Brennan whispered to Shalimar, wiping away the tears from her face as he spoke. 

  "I love you too." Shalimar said, tears returning to her eyes. "I'm just sorry it took all this for me to realize how I felt." She looked away from him. "Can you ever forgive me for letting them take you?"

  "It wasn't your fault. " Brennan said reassuringly.

  "Yes it was." Shalimar practically cried out. "I should of …"

  Brennan pressed his lips to hers gently, shutting her up. She returned his kiss passionately before she broke away from him.

  "I should probably go. You need to get your rest." Shalimar said regretfully as she pulled out of his embrace. "Adam will be mad if he finds out I snuck back here."

  Brennan nodded reluctantly, knowing she was right. He was feeling very tired and his ribs were in so much pain, but he didn't tell Shalimar that, not wanting to worry her. They kissed one more time before Shalimar left the Lab and Brennan Lay back down on the surgical table to get some rest. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

**_Sanctuary, Morning………   _**

  Brennan lay on his bed reading one of his many books of poetry. Adam had allowed him to return to his room after Brennan promised to remain in bed for the next couple of days to give his ribs time to heal. Jesse and Emma had stopped by earlier on to see how he was doing. They had both been acting overly cheerful so that Brennan had finally got sick of it and had told them he was tired so that they'd leave. 

  There was a knock at the door and Shalimar pocked her head in. 

  "Can I come in?" She asked nervously. When Brennan nodded she came and sat next to him on the bed. 

  "How's Sage?" Brennan asked.

  "He's okay. Adam thinks that he just used up what strength he had left and his body needs more time to heal. He's sleeping at the moment. Adam moved him to the spare room down the hall. He's hoping that when Sage is better he'll decide to join the team, or at least stick around long enough for Adam to figure out what happened to him." Shalimar stopped speaking realizing that she was babbling. She still felt guilty for what had happened to Brennan even though she knew he didn't blame her. 

  They sat in silence for a few moments until Shalimar broke it.

  "How are you?" Shalimar asked looking worriedly at Brennan.

   Brennan shrugged his shoulders.

 "Do you want to talk about it?" Shalimar asked. 

  "No." Brennan shook his head still not looking at her. 

  "Do you want me to leave?" Shalimar asked, dreading the answer.

  "No." Brennan said as he placed his hand on top of her hand, lacing their fingers together. He looked up at her giving her a small smile, which she returned. 

  They kissed each other gently before separating their lips from each other. Shalimar leaned against Brennan's shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her, holding her.

  "I love you." Brennan whispered to Shalimar, surprised that he could feel so much happiness after what he'd just been through.

  "I love you to." Shalimar said smiling to herself. They kissed one last time before lying down on the bed in each other's arms. Shalimar retrieved the forgotten book of poetry from the pillow on the bed and opening the book between her and Brennan they began to read.

                                                            THE END


End file.
